Government of Canada Announces Unique Geothermal Project in Alberta

CALGARY, April 25, 2019 /CNW/ - The Government of Canada is taking steps to protect the environment and grow the economy while creating good, middle-class jobs and more opportunities for Canadians. 

The Honourable Amarjeet Sohi, Minister of Natural Resources, today announced $6.7 million in federal funding to support Eavor Technologies Inc.'s novel approach for the next generation of geothermal engineering. 

Eavor Technologies Inc., a Calgary-based company dedicated to creating a cleaner energy future, is developing an innovative prototype for a closed-loop geothermal system that will create renewable energy using the earth's natural heat. 

The federal funding, provided by Natural Resources Canada's Clean Growth Program and Sustainable Development Technology Canada, will go toward construction of a demonstration facility for this technology — the Eavor-Lite facility, a collaborative effort with Precision Drilling, Shell New Energies and a number of other key partners — near Rocky Mountain House, Alberta. The successful implementation of Eavor-Lite will unlock identified commercial opportunities, and the facility will support ongoing research and development for this unique technology.   

Through Canada's national energy dialogue, Generation Energy, Canadians made it clear that reliable, affordable clean energy solutions are not a luxury but a necessity for Canada's low-carbon future. We will continue to support clean energy initiatives that create jobs, support investment and industry competitiveness, advance our clean future and help realize our global climate change goals.

Quotes

"This innovative project demonstrates that we can build upon, and transfer, expertise from the oil and gas sector to supply cleaner forms of energy, leading to potential new export markets for Canada. The Government of Canada will continue to make smart investments in research and innovation to develop new clean energy technologies, meet our climate goals and create economic growth that benefits everyone."

Amarjeet Sohi
Canada's Minister of Natural Resources

"Innovative projects like the one developed by Eavor Technologies Inc. demonstrate how a strong economy and a clean environment go hand in hand. Today's investment will not only help develop the next generation of geothermal engineering but will also help create and maintain jobs in the energy industry."

Navdeep Bains
Canada's Minister of Innovation, Science and Economic Development

 "We look forward to the construction and completion of the demonstration facility right here in Alberta this summer. The demonstration of our technology and solution will provide the validation needed to unlock Eavor's already-identified commercial opportunities at home and around the world."

John Redfern 
President and CEO, Eavor Technologies Inc.

"Eavor is developing a competitive geothermal solution that will be able to produce green electricity and heat on demand to thousands of homes. SDTC's investments in companies, like Eavor, help to develop new environmental technologies in Canada that will be adopted around the world."

Leah Lawrence
President and CEO, Sustainable Development Technology Canada (SDTC)

"Alberta Innovates develops and invests in research, technology and innovation to help technology developers and industry clients accelerate technology development and deployment, grow their businesses and enhance the competitiveness of the resource sector. We collaborate with industry partners to find innovative solutions to solve challenges and meet emerging opportunities. Partnering with Eavor Technologies to demonstrate their new approach to geothermal energy development creates a potential source of clean power and the opportunity to put Alberta's significant drilling expertise to use in advanced clean energy projects."

John Zhou 
Vice President, Clean Energy, Alberta Innovates

"While Precision's primary customer base is made up of oil and gas companies, we are also strong supporters of all energy sources necessary to meet growing global energy demand. The Eavor demonstration project brings to us an exciting opportunity to work with leading edge companies like Eavor and Shell in the development of new, scalable forms of advanced geothermal energy."

Kevin Neveu
President and CEO, Precision Drilling Corporation

"In searching for the next breakthrough in geothermal energy, we at Shell came up with our top-ten list of what was holding geothermal energy back. We recognized that Eavor-Loop^™ and its unique conduction-only closed-loop design had the potential to address many of these concerns. That is why we're supporting Eavor and their Eavor-Lite™ demonstration project."

Malcolm Ross
Geothermal Focus Leader, Shell New Energies

Quick facts

• Eavor's disruptive new solution, Eavor-Loop, will be the world's first truly scalable form of green baseload power. Eavor achieves this by mitigating or eliminating many of the issues that have hindered the expansion of traditional geothermal solutions.
• Project partners include: Precision Drilling (www.precisiondrilling.com); Shell New Energies (www.shell.com); Shear Fluids (www.shearfluids.com); the University of Alberta; Codeco-Vanoco Engineering (www.vanococonsulting.com); the University of Toronto; Rangeland Engineering Canada (www.rangelandeng.com); Certus Oil and Gas (www.certusoil.com); Enlighten Geoscience Ltd. (www.enlightengeoscience.com); Petrel Robertson Consulting (www.petrelrob.com); and GLJ (www.gljpc.com).
• Sustainable Development Technology Canada (SDTC) is an arm's-length foundation created by the Government of Canada to promote sustainable development and support projects that develop and demonstrate new technologies to address issues related to climate change, air quality and clean water and soil. SDTC invests in Canadian companies that, through their innovative technologies, contribute positively to Canada by creating quality jobs, driving economic growth and protecting the environment.
• Natural Resources Canada's Clean Growth Program (CGP) is a $155-million investment fund that helps advance emerging clean technologies toward commercial readiness so that natural resource operations can further reduce their impacts on air, land and water, while enhancing competitiveness and creating jobs.
• Canada is a world leader in the production and use of energy from renewable resources, with 66 percent of its electricity production generated from renewable sources.

Related Information

Eavor-Loop Demonstration Project   
www.eavor.com  
https://vimeo.com/301259525

Follow us on Twitter: @NRCan (http://twitter.com/nrcan)

SOURCE Natural Resources Canada

Natural Resources Canada, Media Relations, 343-292-6100, [email protected]; Vanessa Adams, Press Secretary, Office of the Minister of Natural Resources, 343-543-7645, [email protected]; Eavor Technologies Inc., John Redfern, President and CEO, 650-269-2501, [email protected]